Despite a career-high 22-point performance from junior guard Yirsy Quéliz, the Northeastern women’s basketball team (1-3, 0-0 CAA) fell to the Merrimack College Warriors (2-2, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) 85-63 on the road Nov. 15.
Quéliz’s performance made her the game leader in points as she scored all six three-pointers for the team. Sophomore forward Taylor Holohan led the team in rebounds and blocks with eight and three, respectively.
The first three quarters were tight, with the teams only outscoring each other by two points, but the fourth quarter was a different story. Merrimack scored 32 points in the fourth quarter — only one fewer than the Warriors scored in the entire first half — to Northeastern’s 12. They shot an impressive 70% from the field and made 50% of three-pointer attempts in the closing frame to propel them ahead of the Huskies.
Through the game, Merrimack dominated on points in the paint — scoring 48 to 24 — and outscored on points off turnovers 27 to 9.
Sophomore guard Morgan Matthews kicked things off for the Huskies with a layup 38 seconds into the game, but the Warriors answered back with one of their own 14 seconds later. The teams went back and forth until, with a 7-6 Northeastern lead, the Warriors scored back-to-back layups to pull ahead 10-3.
Northeastern did not let this move go unanswered, hitting a jumper, a layup and a three-pointer to pull ahead 14-10. Merrimack then took eight of the next 10 points to end the quarter at 18-16.
The teams exchanged a layup and a foul shot each before Merrimack made a layup to pull ahead 23-19. The rest of the quarter was full of back-and-forth action, with the Huskies pulling ahead once and the game being tied three more times, ending the quarter 33-33.
Out of halftime, Northeastern pulled ahead momentarily with a jumper by sophomore guard Camryn Collins to go ahead 35-33, but the Warriors quickly followed it up with consecutive foul shots.
With the score tied at 38, Northeastern scored two foul shots, a three-pointer and a layup while only conceding one free throw, taking a 45-39 lead. The teams went shot for shot for the majority of the quarter until, with just over a minute left, the Warriors scored back-to-back layups to cut Northeastern’s lead to 53-51 going into the final quarter of play.
While Quéliz notched two three-pointers for the Huskies in the first three minutes of play, it was not enough to compete with Merrimack. The Warriors took 16 points in the same time to lead 67-59.
A sole free throw for Collins cut Merrimack’s lead to 67-60, but the Warriors answered with a three-pointer and a layup to lead by 12. Quéliz hit another three-pointer with just over three minutes remaining, but the Warriors hit a three of their own, a jumper and three layups to erase Northeastern’s progress, 83-63 Merrimack with 20 seconds remaining.
A layup for Holohan with six seconds left was the last basket of the final quarter, handing Northeastern the 83-65 loss.
The Huskies will hope to bounce back against the Providence College Friars (2-1,0-0 Big East), who are coming off a win against Boston College, Nov. 18 at 11 a.m. on the road.
